By William G. Faust Jr.
William G. Faust Jr. is a resident of Dover.
These are the grades I am giving to the City Council of Dover for this year (midterm grades). I will list the grades and then give my reasons on why it received the grades for this marking period.
- Attendance: A+
- Job performance: D+
- Transparency to the citizens: D-
- Spending city revenue wisely: F-
- Bringing in revenue to the city: D-
- Answering citizens’ concerns in a timely manner: F-
- Memorable statements or phrases: A+
- Addressing issues, problems or concerns promptly: F-
- Communication with the citizens: D+
Reasons for the grades:
- Attendance — The reason council is getting this grade is because all the members show up for their meetings. Why would they not show up? They get paid, no matter what!
- Job performance — They are doing a poor job. You can ensure that they locked in their yearly raise, which is guaranteed annually. However, they cannot submit a budget that is balanced without passing on some kind of increase to the citizens. The past two approved budgets are proof.
- Transparency to the citizens — Council allows citizens to speak at the meetings. However, the members rarely answer concerns, questions or fears. They only answer questions if there is a large audience present and if the press is at the meeting (damage control).
- Spending revenue wisely — There is no rainy-day fund for any type of emergency. Council is always taking money from one fund to pay for an emergency item (robbing Peter to pay Paul).
- Bringing revenue into the city — This is an easy answer because council has not brought enough revenue into the city during the past two years. This is the reason council has added fees, increased fees and increased utility rates. What else is it going to pass on to the citizens?
- Answering citizens’ concerns in a timely manner — This is a joke. During the public forum section of the council meetings, the members never really respond to questions or concerns and never put any item or issue on the next meeting’s agenda. In short, council sidesteps any issue until it is forced to come up with some type of answer.
- Memorable statements or phrases — Council President Fred Neil’s favorite phrases are that the city has a cheaper electric rate than surrounding cities do; that a department or individual is doing a stellar job; and that individuals who are being vocal and negative about the current police issues pay little to no taxes to the city. Who cares what is occurring in surrounding towns? Address the hardships that are affecting our citizens. Throwing around the word “stellar” is pointless, unless you give examples of what has been done or accomplished. The third statement is paraphrased and was from an article Councilman Neil wrote and that was published. Note: Council President Neil never apologized or printed a retraction for his inappropriate and negative statement.
- Addressing issues, problems or concerns promptly — This is easy to prove. The city’s homelessness issue, prostitution issue, gun violence issue, other criminal issues and the issue between the police chief and his ranks have not been addressed or fixed. These issues are only festering and getting worse.
- Communication with the citizens — From past experience, some council members never respond to questions or emails when they are received. However, I must praise Councilman Brian Lewis from the 2nd District, where I live. He always responds to my emails or phone calls in a timely manner. He never sidesteps any questions put to him. He is always up front about what he can or cannot do. He is not afraid to fight for his constituents. Too bad others on council do not fight to make living conditions better for their constituents.
I submit this as a concerned citizen.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
